Discover Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island

Canada’s smallest provincial capital, Charlottetown (pop. 35,000)–Prince Edward Island’s governmental, economical, cultural, and shopping center–makes no pretense of being a big city. Rather, this attractive town is walkable, comfortable, and friendly. Its major attractions include a beautiful harborside location, handsome public and residential architecture, sophisticated art and cultural happenings, and plentiful lodgings and appealing restaurants.

The city also makes a good sightseeing base for exploring surrounding Queens County, which is the definitive Prince Edward Island as you imagined the province would be. The region is temptingly photogenic, a meld of small seaports with brightly colored craft at anchor and farmland settings with limpid ponds and weathered barns. Along the Gulf of St. Lawrence is Cavendish, the island’s most popular tourist destination. Cavendish was the childhood home of Lucy Maud Montgomery, who created perfection on earth within the pages of her books, which centered on the spunky heroine Anne of Green Gables.

History

In the late 1750s, English surveyor Samuel Holland surveyed all of Prince Edward Island, recommending that the main settlement be established on a peninsula within Hillsborough Bay. He named it Charlotte, for the consort of King George III. The town had its grid laid out in 1764 and was named the island’s capital the next year. Charlottetown’s development paralleled the island’s development. A road network was laid out by 1850. And by 1860, some 176 sawmills were transforming forests into lumber, greasing the island’s economy and providing the raw materials for a thriving shipbuilding industry. As the center of government and commerce, the town was enriched with splendid stone churches and public buildings, many of which date to the mid-1800s and stand to this day.

Sights

Founders’ Hall: Canadians especially will enjoy learning about how the Dominion of Canada was created at this harbor-front interpretive center.

Province House: This historic sandstone building in the heart of Charlottetown hosted the Fathers of Confederation in 1864 and continues today as the provincial seat of government.

Victoria Park: Take a break from the relative bustle of downtown with a walk through this waterfront park, home to the impressive Fanningbank residence.

International Shellfish Festival: You can feast on seafood year-round in Charlottetown, but this late-September festival is the place to try all your favorites at once.

Prince Edward Island National Park: Stretching along the Gulf of St. Lawrence, this park is one of the island’s few undeveloped tracts of land. Warm water, beaches, and red cliffs are the main draws.

North Rustico Harbour: It’s just a dot on the map, but this small fishing village is particularly photogenic. A lighthouse, kayak tours, and an excellent restaurant add to the appeal.

Green Gables Heritage Place: Northern Queens County is lovingly known as “Anne’s Land,” for Anne of Green Gables, one of the world’s best-known literary characters.

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About The Author

Andrew Hempstead

Andrew Hempstead has authored and updated more than 60 guidebooks, including Moon Atlantic Canada, and supplied content for regional and national clients like Expedia and KLM. His photography has appeared in a wide variety of media, ranging from international golf magazines to a Ripley’s Believe it or Not! Museum. Andrew and his wife Dianne also own Summerthought Publishing, a Canadian regional publisher of nonfiction books. He lives in Banff, Alberta. Visit his website escapecentral.com.

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Carolyn B. Heller

Carolyn B. Heller traveled more than 5,000 miles (8,200 kilometers) across the highways and back roads of western Canada while researching Moon Vancouver and the Canadian Rockies Road Trip. A full-time travel and food writer since the mid-1990s, Carolyn is the author of four Moon travel guides and she has contributed to more than 50 other travel and restaurant guides. Her articles have appeared in Forbes Travel, Viator Travel, the Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Perceptive Travel, FamilyFun, Real Weddings, and many other publications.

Carolyn is an avid traveler and passionate food lover who has eaten on the streets, in fine restaurants, and everywhere in between in more than 40 countries. She’s been road-tripping since she was a child, and she has continued that road trip tradition with her own daughters, notably in 2003, when she and her then-10-year-old twins traveled across the United States on an epic six-week, mother-daughter road trip, where they got drenched at Niagara Falls, toured museums of SPAM and Jell-O, camped at Yellowstone National Park, and ate mashed potatoes with gravy in 14 states.

A graduate of Brown University, Carolyn lives with her husband in Vancouver, British Columbia, where you can often find her running on the beach, practicing her storytelling skills, or sampling a new Chinese restaurant.